


A-Dressing the Elephant

by Cassiopeia12727



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, MSR, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Season/Series 06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23719570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassiopeia12727/pseuds/Cassiopeia12727
Summary: Scully decides to address the big elephant in the room and dresses up for Mulder.
Relationships: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 10
Kudos: 59





	A-Dressing the Elephant

**Author's Note:**

> Because I love puns, and I won't stop using them generously. This takes place sometime after Fight the Future in the timeline of season 6 (although events after this probably diverge from canon). I, like other X-Philes, feel that Scully's low-cut black dress was wasted on the CSM, so I wanted to fix that. A huge thank you to [ AweburnPhoenix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AweburnPhoenix), who was kind enough to beta an early version of this piece. It wouldn't have been the same without your invaluable feedback. You are the best!
> 
> Disclaimer: Chris Carter and Ten Thirteen Productions own The X-Files and all associated characters. I don't own any of the characters mentioned in this story or episodes and movies referenced in it.

Scully gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror one more time, turning to make sure the dress was sitting right at the back, as well. Today was the day for her big experiment. Dr. Scully was going to conduct research on how her partner, Special Agent Fox Mulder, would respond to her greeting him for their nightly casework discussion in a low-cut, figure-hugging black dress. After five years of a "platonic plus" relationship, they still hadn't moved past an almost-kiss, and it was time for her to try other methods of getting his attention.

She didn't want Mulder to know that she was dressing up for this mundane occasion, so that he wouldn't feel forced into gussying up himself or get worked up about it in his head in advance. She wanted to take him by surprise to see his genuine reaction and take advantage of where that might possibly lead them. Originally, the dress had been intended for a special night out, but if she could turn things around, she might end up with a very special night in. The approach was unorthodox, at least for her, but she was too impatient to continue to wait for Mulder to make the first move. She wanted him to really see her for the woman that she was, without professional restrictions getting in the way.

Ten more minutes until their agreed-upon meetup time. The wine glasses were ready on the coffee table. The case files, mere props, were neatly stacked on its side. Scully glanced back in the mirror and tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. She had no illusions about Mulder actually showing up at 7 pm. sharp, but she was still counting down the minutes.

How humiliating it would be if he completely ignored her attire and proceeded with business as usual. She brushed that thought aside. Deep breath in, deep breath out. She closed her eyes. Nothing to be afraid of, nothing to lose, and everything to win, she reminded herself. When she opened her eyes again, she felt much more confident. Glancing back at her in the mirror was a beautiful young woman with stunning pale blue eyes, flawless auburn hair, inviting crimson lips, and a radiating complexion, with a sexy black dress clinging to her curves. _How could he not fall for that?_ Scully suppressed a smirk, then brushed the creases out of her dress with the palms of her hands, and walked over into the living room to sit down on the couch.

Her mind went over the different ideas that she had had in planning for this. The dress had caught her attention right away. As soon as she saw it at the store, she had thought about how much she wanted to wear it for a date night with Mulder. Of course, there had never been such a date night, and if she had waited longer for a date night to happen, she might have wasted her money on a beautiful dress.

Her second plan had been to nonchalantly surprise her partner with the dress at work. She might have been able to hide it under a blazer that she would have taken off in the basement. She could have leaned over some case files, giving Mulder a full view of... Well, that wasn't going to happen, either, because the low cut of the dress was completely inappropriate for the Bureau, and one never knew who might stop by their basement office. So, dressing up at her own apartment for a case review was the next-best option, although it seemed sillier and more over-the-top with every passing minute.

Just one minute after 7, probably a new record, Scully thought, there was a knock on the door. With another deep breath, Scully got off the couch and opened the door. Both Mulder and Scully startled at what they saw when the door swung open and almost simultaneously stopped mid-greeting with their mouths open.

Scully could tell that Mulder had indeed not expected her to fancy up for the occasion, but neither had she expected him to carry a bottle of wine. - And that was on top of him looking extremely attractive in his dark fitted T-shirt and black leather jacket, even more so than he usually did. While his outfit wasn't a match to hers in smartness, he couldn't have picked a look more appealing to her. Scully thought about how they had become so acclimated to each other's presence that, a lot of times, it was almost as if they could read each other's minds. This had to be one of those instances. Had she given him certain vibes at the office today?

Breaking the brief silence, Scully uttered, "Come on in!"

Mulder stepped inside, saw the wine glasses on the table, turned to her, and asked, befuddled, "What's the occasion?"

He wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was looking her up and down, taking in everything that the fabric revealed and hinted at.

Scully tried hard to maintain her cool, shrugging as casually as possible, then closed the door.

"I don't know. I just felt like dressing nicely. You don't like it?" She teased, already knowing the answer.

"No... uh... It's nice," Mulder stuttered.

"Nice?" Scully asked, playfully pretending to be offended, taking advantage of his being caught off-guard by stepping closer.

"It's funny that you would be asking me about the occasion, given that you are the one that brought a bottle of wine," she commented, nodding in the direction of the bottle in his hand.

Mulder chose to ignore her valid argument and plopped himself down on the couch, reaching for the case file at the very top of the pile.

Scully wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily.

"Mulder, do you know how many years we've been working together?"

Mulder froze with his hand mid-air hovering over the files and turned in her direction, a look of mild panic on his face. Why did this question make him so anxious? Did he not know?

"Five years. _Five_ years," Scully slowly repeated the number a second time, with every one of the three letters lingering on her tongue, her eyes fixed on his.

Mulder pulled his arm back. She now had his undivided attention, and, very unlike him, he did not interrupt with one of his smart jokes.

Scully crossed her arms, she was so caught up in the moment, so eager to get the words out that she didn't notice that the motion inadvertently pushed her décollete up further.

She vaguely noticed Mulder gulping and his struggle to keep his gaze on her eyes rather than the cleavage above of her dress.

"Mulder, it took us five years to get to that night in the hallway. You _know_ which night I'm talking about."

Mulder had to admit that Scully's fervor only added to her overwhelming attractiveness. God, she was hot! Absentmindedly, he started to chew on his lower lip.

"Had it not been for that goddamn bee, you know what would have happened."

She let that sentence sink in by pausing briefly, and the emotions came rushing in. Tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Five years, Mulder," she semi-whispered.

After the overwhelming urge to reveal her feelings to him, Scully suddenly felt very vulnerable, not just because she wasn’t used to purposely dressing to show this much skin in front of Mulder. _Why was she standing so far from him?_ She was still positioned where she had been when she opened the door, while he was over there, on the couch. It felt as if he was miles away now, even though she knew that that wasn’t true.

Slowly, but surely, she walked over to the couch. Mulder’s eyes were still fixed on her. He barely blinked, anticipating what she would share next.

“You know that my respect for you is endless. There is nothing in this world that I would trade for the friendship that we have, “ she confessed.

“But I think that time has shaped us in ways that I could have never fathomed. We are one unit when we are facing the many obstacles that are part of our journey. Oftentimes, I cannot tell anymore where my mind ends and yours begins.”

Scully was now standing right next to the couch, reaching her hand out to Mulder, who scooted closer to the edge to interlace his hands with hers. His eyes were brimful of adoration, as they shared another brief moment in silence, simply gazing at each other.

Scully’s voice cracked when she continued.

“We are so close, but I still see you, Mulder.”

Mulder couldn’t help but beam with affection. Scully paused again before proceeding.

“I can only hope that you also see me.”

And _how_ he saw her. She had no idea. Not just every intricate curve of her mind, but also every delicate detail of her body.

Using their connected hands, Mulder slowly drew her closer. Scully obeyed and was pulled straight from a standing position so close to him that all she could feel was his warmth and all that she could smell was his scent. The last thing that Scully saw was Mulder’s tear-filled hazel eyes, then his soft lips were beckoning hers to reciprocate. Her eyes closed in surrender.

Maybe the dress’s effect on Mulder hadn't been the reason that they had finally passed this threshold in their relationship, but perhaps it had been the catalyst that Scully needed to speak her mind. Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. What mattered was this moment of her hands in his hair and his hands around her neck and back, their bodies silently speaking their truth.

When, later that night, she shed the dress, she finally shed all doubt with it.


End file.
